Freight rail is a multibillion dollar industry in Texas. It’s an important part of the economy, but safety concerns have focused more eyes on the industry’s current practices.
A recent report from the Federal Railroad Administration focuses on the effectiveness of Fort Worth-based company BNSF Railway’s message promoting a culture of safety within.
Railway industry veteran Bill Keppen is a contributor at Railway Age. He provides safety analyses to the FRA and was an engineer at BNSF. He spoke with Texas Standard on what challenges face the company and what steps can be taken so that everyone is on the same page. Listen to the interview above or read the transcript below.
This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:
Texas Standard: I want to cut to this FRA report. As part of it, it was said that BNSF, there’s a push toward supporting a culture of safety. But it seems the report indicates that some folks on the front lines aren’t getting that message. Now, of course, BNSF is a huge company, but what are some of the factors that could contribute to that breakdown in communication?
Bill Keppen: Well, certainly one of the factors is the size. The operation is so spread out, plus the fact that the staffing both on the trains and in the management ranks has been reduced to varying degrees over the past years through mergers and whatever.
And I think in some cases, particularly by location, it’s understaffed – both with train operating crews and with management. And sometimes the management doesn’t always have the experience that’s necessary to promote safety culture.
And, you know, what is senior management expecting out of them? I mean, are they more focused on on-time operations, or are they considering the risks that some of those on-time operations entail?
Well, in that bill, if you look at the data, does it show that BNSF is relatively safe or do there remain serious safety concerns that that culture of safety was designed to address but isn’t?
I always try to compare the two western railroads, BNSF and UP (Union Pacific) with each other, and the two eastern railroads – the big ones the big four – CSX and Norfolk Southern.
And if you compare BNSF and UP – which are relatively the same size operations, and they’re spread out across very similar states – you’ll see that human factor-caused accidents are the largest in both. But for the years ’20 through ’24, four and a half years, Union Pacific has had 1,144 human factor-caused accidents and BNSF is at 792. So that’s a significant disparity.
And if you look at the total accidents at track and mechanical and whatever, BNSF has once again had far fewer accidents than Union Pacific.
So I guess, you know, culture certainly has implications for how safe the railroads operate. But there’s so many other things. That’s the way I would look at it.
So, if you want to improve safety, how can everyone get on board? How do you fix this?
Well, I would say a couple of things.
Compensation for management. And what is the compensation and bonuses tied to… Because, you know, I think higher paid workers generally outperform low paid workers. And it doesn’t make it any different if you’re in management or if you’re running trains.
So I think that is all part of the culture because it’s a factor in human performance. You track what people do and you report them for the proper types of management or the proper types of training operations. Sometimes you get merit badges, sometimes you get cash bonuses. It all depends on if you’re in management or if you’re running trains.
Yeah, but the economics of the situation are such that if you want to remain competitive – and at the same time, you don’t want to get outpaced by other logistical services – there’s a balance that you have to strike, no?
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. It’s just like any other industry. The trucking industry is even more of a challenge. The margins are so much smaller.
So, yeah, you have to consider that. I graduated from college with a business degree, so I understand those types of things. And the best management team puts those things in perspective because the bottom line demands and there’s demands for safety because you’ve got to protect not just your employees, but the the communities that your trains are operating through.
